The First Day of Classes
by Bohemian Storm
Summary: Snape has his yearly speech and this year Sinistra has taken it upon herself to make it a little more fun.


Disclaimer: I don't own Snape or Sinistra.  
  
Notes: Nita came up with Sinistra's first name, Atalia. She ended up being modelled strangely after Dia in all of our joint fics, with the fake innocence act and the like. I also must admit, that after weeks of refusing to write one just because everyone else was writing them, this was great fun. :D  
  
Dedicated to all those on board the good ship Snape/Sinistra. Especially it's captain.  
  
The First Day of Classes  
or  
How I Ruined Snape's Day  
Severus Snape glared out over the sea of first year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students, daring even a single one of them to flinch under his gaze. The punishment for flinching, of course, would be detention . . . and possibly fifty points taken from the house. A smile twitched at Snape's mouth at this thought. Fifty was a very large number and nothing gave him more pleasure than taking a large amount of points from Gryffindor. Nothing, except perhaps torturing one Hermione Granger about something that was most likely wrong with her.  
  
It was the first potions class of the year and oh, Snape loved the first class of the year. It was his opportunity to re-exert his power over the students. His favourite day of the year came only once and it was usually capped with the delightful vision of seeing Neville Longbottom nearly wet his pants in fear. All in all, Snape thought the first day of school was the best day of the year. It topped Halloween, Christmas and yes, even the annual Blasting of Rose Bushes (more commonly known as the Yule Ball). Not only did he get to make sure all his old students were still completely disgusted, frightened and repulsed by him, he also got to bask in the glory of the yearly potions speech.  
  
All would have been well, everything would have gone according to plan if she hadn't picked that very moment to walk into his classroom. She, being the very bane of his existence, the one woman in the entire school that he loathed more than anyone and, of course, the one woman in the entire world he had ever confessed to loving. Atalia Sinistra. The most aggravating, annoying, disturbing, sickeningly happy, horridly optimistic and disgustingly sweet person he'd ever met. She had a way with timing; it always worked out perfectly for her but more often than not, it completely ruined all of Snape's plans.  
  
"Professor," she greeted from the door with a smile.   
  
Snape's jaw tightened and he inclined his head slightly in a nod. "Good afternoon, Professor Sinistra."  
  
Atalia's wide eyes surveyed the class with her usual upbeat smile. "You have an awfully nice looking group of first years here with you today, Severus."  
  
A few students near the back giggled with the use of his first name and Snape shot them a death glare with enough power behind it to rival even the killing curse. The snicking immediately stopped.   
  
"I'm sure they will prove to be . . . sufficient, Atalia," he sneered. "Now, if you wouldn't mind returning to your towers and placing your head firmly back in the clouds where it belongs, I have a class to teach."  
  
Her smile only grew with his comment. "I have no business in my towers today, Severus. Astronomy classes don't start until next week." Her eyes strayed back toward the students. "I'm so sorry," she said. "Despite the fact that I'm interrupting what was sure to be a rivetting rendition of the yearly speech, I'd love to take this time to introduction myself to you. My name is Atalia Sinistra and I'll be your astronomy professor here at Hogwarts."  
  
A student to her left raised his hand and Atalia nodded at him.  
  
"Um, is it true that the classes take place at midnight?" he asked.  
  
Atalia nodded. "Of course, the perfect time to study the stars."  
  
The class groaned and she laughed lightly.  
  
"Twice a week, no more than that. We could never possibly hope to keep you up so late every night, especially when you're still so young and-"  
  
"Atalia!" Snape interrupted sharply  
  
She turned her dark eyes to his. "Yes, Sev?"  
  
A vein in his temple began to throb as he clenched his jaw tighter still. "Come. Here!" he hissed sharply.  
  
The students melted back against their chairs at the venom in his voice, but Atalia's smile only grew sunnier if that were at all possible. She walked softly up the main aisle of the classroom, her robes swishing around her as she went. She only kept the upbeat smile on because she knew it annoyed him more than anything, with the possible exception of the nickname 'Sev'. His dark eyes glared down at her and she simply grinned back and dropped into a dramatic curtsy when she reached his desk. Several students snicked at this as well and Snape growled deep in this throat.  
  
"What do you need, Professor?" she asked, her eyes suddenly quite wide and quite innocent looking.  
  
"I would appreciate," he hissed, "if you would cease you annoying interruptions of my class. Either go back to your towers or sit down and be silent."  
  
Atalia smiled once more, then slipped behind his large desk and made herself comfortable in his chair. Snape allowed himself a final glared before sweeping down the steps toward the students. They shrunk further away from them and Snape's lips twitched with a satisfied smile before he launched into 'the speech'.   
  
"Now," he snarled. "There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't except many of you to appreciate . . ." he trailed off slightly, catching the most subtle of giggles coming from the front row. A first year Ravenclaw behind him was pressing her hand tightly against her mouth in an attempt to stop the giggles. Her eyes were glued to the annoying astronomy professor who was sitting behind his desk.  
  
Snape glanced at Atalia and she smiled innocently, shrugging her shoulders.  
  
"Any more laughing and there will be a detention for you," Snape snarled at the student. "Ten points from Ravenclaw for the interruption."  
  
"As I was saying, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and delicate art that is potions making, but for those select few who possess the predisposition-"  
  
A shrill laugh cut off his sentence and Snape ground his teeth together in anger. The throbbing in his temple was growing and he was certain that by the end of the day his teeth would be ground down to nothing more than stubs in his mouth. He hated the first day of classes.  
  
"What?" he growled, rounding on the student who had giggled.  
  
The young Gryffindor boy all but disappeared behind his desk, before he rose a quivering hand and pointed toward the front of the classroom. Snape turned slowly, knowing exactly what he would see before he actually saw it. Atalia was still sitting at his desk, but she had somehow managed to worm her way into his extra set of robes and was now draped in black. Her usual smile was gone, replaced with a scowl Snape knew far too well. It was his scowl. The thieving wench was stealing his scowl and trying to make a mockery of his speech.  
  
"Atalia," he growled in a warning voice.  
  
"I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses," she growled in a similar tone. Laughter erupted from behind Snape and he stopped in the middle of the aisle, cringing at the accuracy with which Atalia could imitate him.   
  
Atalia stood, the robes far too long and about two sizes too large for her frame. The size didn't prevent her from sweeping her hand dramatically across her body and shaking her head so that her dark hair hung in her face.   
  
"I can show you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death," she announced with great flair.   
  
Several more students joined in the laughter this time and Snape bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed. She was making a fool out of him, they would never listen to him after this, never in a thousand years would they fear his footsteps in the hall after seeing their astronomy professor imitate him better than any student had managed over the years.   
  
"At this point," Atalia said, once more adopting her own voice, "there must be an over eager student with the dire need to please Severus taking furious notes. He thought he was so lucky five years ago when it was Harry Potter taking notes." The scowl was back. "Mr. Potter . . . our new celebrity."  
  
One of the Gryffindor girls near the front blushed furiously and thumped her head down on the table. Her friends around her snickered and Atalia smiled knowingly  
  
"He is the handsome little devil, isn't he?" she asked, then looked around the room. "You," she said finally, pointing at a Ravenclaw girl. "Would you care to play the over eager student?"  
  
The girl nodded happily and Atalia smiled. "Perfect. Now, all you have to do is take notes like your life depended on it."  
  
Snape's eyes narrowed as the girl went straight to work before Atalia swept down the aisle, somehow managing to not trip on the long ends of the robes.   
  
"Then again," she said, upon reaching the Ravenclaw, "it appears some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of talents so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention." The last three words were snarled so effectively that the girl actually dropped her quill and sat ramrod straight in her chair, staring fearfully at Atalia.  
  
Silence fell over the classroom, the only noise was Snape's laboured breathing, the only thing to indicate how angry he really was.  
  
"Perfect!" Atalia said happily, clapping her hand. "Class dismissed. Come back tomorrow prepared to be completely frightened by the overgrown bat you see behind me."  
  
The students rippled with laughter again, then collected their things and disappeared into the hall, leaving Snape and Atalia alone.  
  
"What was that?" he asked finally, still seething.  
  
She turned to him, smiling brightly. "Well, I thought you might need a little help in the popularity department, Sev."  
  
"Do not call me Sev," he snapped. "I'm very angry, Atalia. How could you just come barging into my classroom like that and make a mockery of everything I have work so very hard to gain."  
  
Atalia slid up to him and touched his wrist lightly. "Don't worry about them, Sev. You know perfectly well that when they return to your class tomorrow you'll be able to scare them twice as effectively now that I've made you look like a big fool."  
  
Snape diverted his gaze from hers and stared at the cold stone wall as her fingers walked up his arm to his shoulder.  
  
"You'll terrify them, darling," she murmured.  
  
Snape blinked, but said nothing.  
  
"You're the scariest teacher Hogwarts has ever had," Atalia purred.  
  
Snape finally looked at her. "Even scarier than Professor Pastilles?" he asked, referring to the charms teacher from their days at Hogwarts who had once terrified Atalia into running screaming from the classroom.  
  
She smiled knowingly and nodded. "Even scarier than Pastilles. After all, no one can make me run screaming from a room like you can, Sev."  
  
The throbbing in his temple calmed slightly and he allowed himself to touch her waist through his robes. "I'm glad I invoke such a reaction in you, Professor Sinistra."  
  
She nodded toward the door. "Come on. You have a whole free period and I know just what we can do with it."  
  
Snape actually smiled at this, following her toward the door. "And what exactly might that be?"  
  
Atalia turned toward him, then removed his robe and tossed it at him. She rolled her eyes and frowned. "Plan our lessons for next week, what do you think?" she said, then left Snape standing alone in the classroom, holding his extra set of robes in his hands.  
  
"I hate her," he snarled, then followed her into the hall.  
The End 


End file.
